Professor Mark R. Wiesner
The DailyTech article Duke Scientist Designs Replacement For Decades Old Fuel Cell Membrane Design said
Duke scientist Wiesner invents a membrane that is cheaper and can operate at higher temperatures and lower humidities than Nafion, the current most widely used membrane, invented in the ’60s.
Mark Wiesner, Ph.D., a Duke civil engineer and senior author of the research, explains the new membrane’s advantages, stating, “The current gold standard membrane is a polymer that needs to be in a humid environment in order to function efficiently. If the polymer membrane dries out, its efficiency drops. We developed a ceramic membrane made of iron nanoparticles that works at much lower humidity. And because it is a ceramic, it should also tolerate higher temperatures. If the next series of tests proves that fuel cells with these new membranes perform well at high temperatures, we believe it might attract the type of investment needed to bring this technology to the market.”
The current most commonly used membrane, Nafion, was first developed in the 1960s and has changed relatively little since. This polymeric membrane becomes unstable at high temperatures and loses efficiency due to dehydration. Nafion membranes are pricey, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the cost of the average system by Wiesner’s estimates. Wiesner’s membranes are significantly cheaper to manufacture.
Mark R. Wiesner, Ph.D. is
James L. Meriam Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering,
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences,
Duke University.
He is cofounder of the
Partnership for Education and Research in Membrane Nanotechnologies
(PERMEANT) and the
Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN).
He is Associate Editor of
Environmental Engineering Science.
Nanotechnologies will have broad social, economic, and environmental
implications; in some cases entirely unanticipated. His work addresses
both applications of nanomaterials that will enable sustainability and
the implications of these materials for public health and the
environment.
He is developing new processes based on emerging nanomaterials that
include membranes, catalysts, and adsorbants while he investigates their
social, economic, and environmental effects.
Research in his group addresses challenges at the interface between
water, energy, and materials. Specifically, his research is currently
oriented along three main axes:
- Membrane Science: membrane fabrication, systems development, optimization, cost modeling, applications (membrane distillation, water treatment, desalination, water reuse, fuel cell development).
- Environmental Nanotechnology: fabrication, transport and fate in the environment, risk assessment, photocatalytic properties, toxicity, new environmental technologies.
- Surface Chemistry and Particle Transport: Morphology of particle deposits, particle transport, aggregation, filtration, particle characterization, and surface chemistry.
Mark earned his B.A. in Mathematics/Biology at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1978. He earned his M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa in 1980. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland in 1985. He did his Post-Doctoral Studies at Chemical Engineering Sciences Laboratory, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Industries Chimiques, (ENSIC) Nancy, France from 1986 to 1987. He received the 2004 Frontiers in Research Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. In 2004 he was also named a de Fermat Laureate and holds an International Chair of Excellence at the French Polytechnic Institute and National Institute for Applied Sciences in Toulouse, France.